How do we lose weight the keep it off? By committing to
health. By making health a priority. Each day that you
make the healthy choice of food and work out, you are
investing in your health. You would never miss paying an
insurance premium, would you? Now you make exercise and
proper nutrition just as important. When you got married,
you said “I do”. You didn’t say
“Well, I’ll try….” You can choose
to stand in your commitment to maintaining a healthy
lifestyle. Here are some simple steps to help you stay on
the healthy path for life:
1. Stop using that 4-letter word: DIET. That not only
connotes deprivation, but also a short-term
goal…..like you’ll follow the plan, get your
goal, and stop. Health is a lifelong value!
2. Start keeping a food diary. Write down everything you
eat, every time you eat. Most of us are unaware of how we
spend our calories (and our money). By keeping track of
what you eat (or spend!) you will quickly see your
patterns, and then be abler to make healthy food choices.
3. Fool-proof your kitchen and/or office. Get rid of
anything unhealthy. If you are thinking “But, Dr.
Nancy, I have kids!” Why would you want to allow
them to learn unhealthy eating habits? This is about
changing your lifestyle for maximum health and minimum
temptation. Set yourself up for success by only having
healthy foods and healthy eaters around you.
4. Accept that exercise is just as important as healthy
food choices. Check with your doctor to see what is the
best exercise program for you. If you are just starting
one, make sure you start off with “baby steps”
- - - i.e., start off walking briskly for 15 minutes a day.
After a week, bump it up to 20, then 30, etc. Then when
you are ready, start running. Or enroll in a
beginner’s yoga class. If you don’t like
exercise, pick something that doesn’t seem
“exercisey.” There truly is a sport for
everyone. Perhaps you’d enjoy a martial art, or
hiking, salsa dancing, biking with your child, or swimming,
or join a softball team, or pick up a tennis game with a
friend. You may not be in love with exercise, but you can
learn to enjoy the results, if nothing else. You probably
don’t really enjoy paying taxes either, but you do it
to avoid the consequences. You can always find ways to
make your exercise program more fun: wear a great outfit
in your favorite color, get top of the line shoes (if you
pay a lot for them, you’ll probably be more inclined
to use them), make a piggy bank and pay yourself each time
you work out. Or, make a campaign contribution of $100 to
an opposing political party (that one really hurts!!!).
Enroll a friend/family member to hold you accountable.
5. Write in your calendar or datebook each week in advance
the times/dates you will work out. Honor those appointments
as if they were more important than a doctor or dentist
appointment. They are. Nothing is more important than
your health. If you don’t have that, then you
can’t work, take care of kids, etc. There are 168
hours in the week. You can quickly calculate how many
you spend sleeping, eating, working, commuting, child
caring, etc., and see that you can carve out 10 hours a
week (including driving to gym, changing, showering, etc.)
for your health. That is less than 10% of your time, yet
your body works 100% of the time for you! Give yourself
the gift of allowing all your vital organs and systems to
recharge, oxygenate, and rejuvenate you. Every cell of
your body will respond positively. Most of us continually
overeat and stuff and never move. How would it be if you
kept filling up your car’s gas tank till it was
spilling over, and then never driving it? This is what many
do with their bodies. You can start thinking of food as
fuel. Stop fueling when full, and then burn it off. Just
imagine if you were given one car that you could drive for
the rest of your life. You’d probably be very careful
about what sort of fuel you put in it, who repaired it,
drove it, even looked at it. Well, your body is your only
vehicle for life. Start treating it like the precious jewel
that it is, and you will very soon feel better, sleep
better, look better, have more mental clarity and emotional
stability.
6. Prepare for plateaus. Most people “fall off the
wagon” when they hit a plateau. This is a perfectly
natural phase of any change process. While it appears
that nothing is happening, know that lots of things are
going on behind the scene. Much like intermission at a
play…it looks like nothing is happening onstage, yet
there’s a flurry of activity backstage that will be
revealed to you if you wait it out. What is happening in
the human body when the scale doesn’t budge is that
every system, organ, cell is absorbing the new adjustments.
It’s as if gauges and levers and toggles and
switches are all being readjusted to the new program. And
it takes some parts longer than others. Just like in a
classroom, the teacher must wait for every child to
understand the lesson at hand before moving on to the next
one. This trains every cell in the body for long-lasting
results. This is precisely why rapid weight loss programs
(“crash diets”) only promote the yo-yo effect.
If you’ve trained your body one way for 35 years, you
cannot expect it to be re-trained in 30 days! The body
cannot possibly adapt to a new program that quickly. Slow
and steady ensures permanence. So, expect
plateaus…..even welcome them. This is proof that
your new body is adapting.
7. Focus on your progress. Remember, we get whatever we
focus on, and whatever we focus on expands. If you
celebrate losing 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds, etc., you
will enhance the process. If you focus on how slow
it’s going or what a “fat pig” you still
are, guess what will happen? Stay patient and positive,
and plan activities to redirect your energy. Remember,
being overweight is a voluntary condition. You and only
you can control what you eat and drink, and how much you
work out. There are few guarantees in life, but one thing
IS guaranteed: if you burn up more than you eat, you can't
not lose weight! See ya on the healthy path.....
----------------------------------------------------
Dr. Irwin is a psychotherapist/therapeutic hypnotist in Los
Angeles. She is also an author, speaker, and exercise
fanatic.
http://www.drnancyirwin.com
http://www.youtube.com/DrNancyIrwin
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